Legal Definitions - hit

Definition: A hit can mean different things depending on the context:

1. A physical strike.
2. In criminal law, a murder committed for money or on orders from a gang leader.
3. In criminal law, an instance of the taking of a drug.
4. In intellectual property, a single instance of a computer's connection to a webpage. Counters keep track of how many visitors a webpage attracts, and a large number of hits is a major selling point for advertising.
5. In intellectual property, a webpage identified by an Internet search engine as containing words matching a user's query.
6. A creative work that is a popular or a commercial success.

Examples:

• He gave the punching bag a hard hit.
• The hit on the rival gang member was ordered by the boss.
• The athlete was caught using performance-enhancing drugs during a drug test hit.
• The website received 10,000 hits in one day, which made it attractive to advertisers.
• When I searched for "best pizza in town," the search engine gave me a list of hits that included several local pizzerias.
• The new song by Taylor Swift is a hit, with millions of streams and downloads.

The examples illustrate the different meanings of the term "hit." The first three examples show the physical and criminal aspects of the term, while the fourth and fifth examples relate to the internet and technology. The last example shows how "hit" can refer to a successful creative work, such as a song or movie.